Fawad Chaudhry censures Nawaz Sharif for meeting Afghan NSA

Minister for Information and Broadcasting Fawad Chaudhry said Nawaz Sharif's meeting with Afghan National Security Adviser (NSA), Hamdullah Mohib, has damaged Islamabad's security doctrine and proves his ties with Pakistan’s enemies.

Addressing a press conference alongside Adviser to Prime Minister on Interior and Accountability Shahzad Akbar in Islamabad on Saturday, Chaudhry said Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has links with the Afghan NSA who had met Nawaz, the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) chief.

The previous night, Afghanistan's National Security Council's Twitter account shared a picture of Mohib and Afghan State Minister for Peace Sayed Sadat Naderi meeting Nawaz in London to "discuss matters of mutual interest".

A screenshot blew up on the social media platform with #NawazSharif and #AfghanNSA trending in the top 10.

The reaction from official quarters was also critical with Chaudhry saying that this meeting potentially damages Pakistan's security doctrine.

"When two or three Afghan leaders, who have started following the extremist ideology of Modi, meet Nawaz, then this damages Pakistan's security doctrine," he said.

“This is why sending Nawaz Sharif abroad was dangerous because such people become a part of international plots against Pakistan," Chaudhry added.

"It is Amrullah Saleh's ploy to defame Pakistan [...] we have also made it clear that Pakistan would not hold any talks with Afghanistan's national security adviser [Mohib]," he said.

Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi last month also criticised Mohib for his comments against Pakistan and told him to correct his behavior.

"The national security adviser of Afghanistan -- carefully listen to me ... as the foreign minister of Pakistan I say that no Pakistani will shake your hand or talk with you if you don't desist from the kind of language you are using or the accusations you're making against Pakistan," Qureshi had said.

Meanwhile, responding to the criticism, Maryam Nawaz, PML-N's vice president, said the foundation of Nawaz's ideology was the peaceful coexistence of Pakistan with its neighbours and he had "worked tirelessly" for it.

"It is the very essence of diplomacy to talk to everyone, listen to their point of view and convey one's own message across: something this government doesn't comprehend and hence is a complete failure on the international front," she said.